On Friday, October 10th,  after a week of raising money for the charity Anya’s Army, USCHS math teacher Mr. Clay Yonker let the two students, senior Morgan Cook and junior Brad Ross,  and one teacher, Mrs. Junko Kapples, who raised the most money shave his head.

He could be seen throughout the week with blue and yellow hair. People laughed at his new hair, but it was all to help Anya Lamar, a 9-year-old girl who was diagnosed in August with a rare form of childhood cancer. She is faced with multiple rounds of chemotherapy and long stays at Children’s Hospital. Mr.Yonker became involved with Anya through coaching her softball team.

The charity drive, Anya’s Army, was started by her cousin, and it is a group of people coming together to support Anya through this tough journey. Anya challenged people on her website to either dye their hair her favorite colors or shave their heads to raise awareness for cancer. Mr. Yonker raised money for Anya by getting Upper St.Clair students and teachers to bring in money throughout the week to shave his head.

One student who shaved his head, senior Morgan Cook, said: “ This is one of the coolest things a teacher has ever done!” He was very happy about shaving Mr.Yonker’s head and had never shaved anyone’s head before.

This story personally hit home to Mr.Yonker, he said, “When I was 13 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer…” He goes on to say after seeing how hard it was for her to go through all the treatments and hair loss, it really affected him and he wanted to help Anya out because no one should have to go through that especially at 9 years old.

For more information about how to support Anya, visit: www.gofundme.com/anyalamar.